Mercedes admit W05 wing failure 'confusing' but expect to return to test on Day Two

By James Galloway at Jerez

Last Updated: 29/01/14 5:57pm

On an opening day of limited running in Spain as the grid as a whole struggled to grapple with their all-new 2014 cars, Mercedes had managed to make a relatively promising start to the week as Hamilton became the first driver to complete a lap and then led the initial way in both mileage and pace.

However, the Briton's session was abruptly ended when, on the uphill run to Turn One at the start of his 18th lap, the front wing on his W05 failed and dislodged itself, pitching Hamilton into a nose-first impact with the barriers.

The crash meant Mercedes lost the final four hours of running on Tuesday, although they still ended up with the second-highest lap count behind Ferrari. Speaking to reporters, the team's technical chief Paddy Lowe admitted the failure had proved "confusing" for the team given they hadn't experienced something like that in proofing at their factory.

Nevertheless, he insisted that they now understood why the wing broke and were working on a fix for Day Two.

"We know where it failed and we're just trying to understand exactly why the margin wasn't sufficient in that area," the Mercedes Executive Director (Technical) said.

"These are things that we test extensively in the model and a lot of work in the laboratory, so it is a confusing situation for us.

"But we're working hard this afternoon and through the night to come up with a solution."

And asked if he was confident the team would be back on track on Wednesday morning, Lowe replied: "Yeah."

Nico Rosberg, who has already sampled the W05 via a 40km shakedown at Silverstone last week, will take over from Hamilton for Day Two.

"We intend to be out there tomorrow [Wednesday] morning so we are working hard through the night to do that," Lowe added.